Abandoned Son Competes First, Hidden Dragon Emerges from Abyss

The torches at the Black Tiger Gang's headquarters burned all night.

When the first rays of dawn pierced the clouds and illuminated the mess on the ground, the sky over Black Stone County had already changed.

Notices from the county office were plastered on every street and alley: Zhao Hei Hu, the leader of the Black Tiger Gang, had colluded with the Barbarians and was killed on the spot by the wise and mighty Constable Ji; the Barbarian spy Agula has been executed.

The common folk cheered and rejoiced, spreading the news to each other. The mountain that had weighed them down for ten years had finally collapsed.

And in the storeroom behind the county office, Ji Ye stood before a mountain of chests.

These were the Black Tiger Gang's savings from ten years.

Gold and silver, jewels, land deeds, and most precious of all—three cartloads of medicinal herbs.

"Sir, I've finished counting."

Wang Meng's eyes were bloodshot, but he was brimming with energy. "We have forty thousand taels of silver and five thousand taels of gold. Among the herbs are three hundred-year-old ginsengs, and countless amounts of deer antlers and tiger bones. There's also..."

Ji Ye looked at the chests, a flicker of understanding in his eyes.

In his previous life, he had acted too late. Zhao Hei Hu had already exchanged most of his fortune for grain and weapons to appease the Barbarians, leaving him with a mere three thousand taels of silver. This time, he struck early. This forty thousand taels, meant as hush money that hadn't yet been spent, would now benefit him with interest.

Wang Meng handed over a blood-stained ledger. "This is the list of Zhao Hei Hu's secret contacts in the prefectural city and Jiangnan."

Ji Ye took the ledger, flipped through it casually, and tucked it into his robes.

"Wang Meng."

Ji Ye turned around and looked at the man who was loyal to him.

"Do you want the position of County Lieutenant?"

Wang Meng was stunned, then knelt on one knee. "It all depends on your guidance, sir!"

"Good."

Ji Ye pulled a letter from his robes and placed it on the table. "This is the 'ironclad evidence' of Zhao Hei Hu's treason, along with Agula's head. Take these, along with that forty thousand taels of silver, and present them to Zhou Dexing."

"F-forty thousand taels? All of it?" Wang Meng's eyes widened, his heart aching so much it twitched.

"Money is a fickle thing; it can be earned again after being spent."

Ji Ye's tone was calm. "This money is for you to buy your promotion. With this sum, Zhou Dexing will not only promote you but also treat you like his own son."

"Then what about you, sir...?"

"Me?"

Ji Ye smiled and gestured towards the three cartloads of herbs and five thousand taels of gold.

"I'm leaving."

"Leaving?" Wang Meng was greatly alarmed. "Where are you going, sir? Now that the Black Tiger Gang is gone, you are second only to the Emperor in Black Stone County. Why would you leave?"

Ji Ye walked to the window and pushed open the frame.

The north wind howled, carrying snowflakes into the room.

"Because the wind is coming."

Ji Ye looked north, his gaze seeming to penetrate the layers of mountains, seeing the black tide that was about to sweep in.

"Zhao Hei Hu is dead, Agula is dead. The Barbarians will not let this go. In a month at most, their army will be at our borders."

"Ah?!" Wang Meng's face turned pale. "Then... then what do we do? Defend the city?"

"We can't hold it."

Ji Ye shook his head. In his previous life, he had given his all, even transforming himself into something neither human nor ghost, only to achieve a pyrrhic victory, and was ultimately betrayed by his own people.

In this life, he would not make the same mistake.

"Wang Meng, listen carefully."

Ji Ye turned around, his eyes becoming extremely serious.

"This month is your last chance. Use your authority as County Lieutenant to take all the grain and weapons you can. Take all the brothers who are willing to follow you."

"Go where?"

"South. Go to Jiangnan, go to Tiandu, go anywhere, just don't stay in the northern territory."

"Then... the people in this city..." Wang Meng's voice trembled slightly.

"We can't save them."

Ji Ye's voice was as hard as iron. "A compassionate heart cannot lead soldiers. If you stay, you will only become another corpse. If you leave, you might be able to return someday to burn incense for them."

Wang Meng fell silent.

He was a simple man, but he understood the logic. Yet, emotionally, abandoning his hometown and elders was...

"Sir, you are a man of great foresight." Wang Meng looked up, a flicker of hope in his eyes. "If you were to stay..."

"I can't save them either."

Ji Ye interrupted him. "I'm not strong enough yet."

He extended his hand and clenched his fist.

"To turn the tables, to avoid being a pawn on the chessboard, I must break free and go somewhere higher, see a bigger world."

"Only by becoming a dragon can one summon the clouds and rain."

"Stuck in the shallows, that's just a loach."

Wang Meng looked at Ji Ye for a long time, then kowtowed heavily.

"Meng understands. Meng will strictly follow your teachings, sir."

One hour later.

An inconspicuous carriage drove out of the south gate of Black Stone County.

The driver was a taciturn old soldier, and the carriage was filled with medicinal herbs and gold.

Ji Ye sat in the carriage, holding a copy of Tiger Roar Golden Bell Shield that had been found in Zhao Hei Hu's secret room.

The wheels rolled, crushing the snow, making a creaking sound.

Ji Ye lifted the curtain and took one last look at the dusty county town behind him.

On the city wall, Wang Meng stood there, gazing into the distance.

"Goodbye, Black Stone County."

Ji Ye lowered the curtain and closed his eyes.

"Goodbye, Qin Wuji."

"When I return, the rules of this world will have to change."

[Golden Years, Martial Arts Through Divinity]

Spring of the first year.

The heartland of Da Liang, Qing Province.

A carriage moved slowly along the official road. Inside the carriage, the medicinal aroma was so thick it was almost palpable.

Ji Ye sat cross-legged in a medicinal tub, his upper body bare.

His skin was no longer a sickly pale, but had a bronze sheen. His muscles flowed like water, yet contained explosive power.

[Martial Arts Through Divinity] was fully activated.

He was deducing Tiger Roar Golden Bell Shield.

The originally crude hard qigong was broken down into countless tiny units in his mind. He used his "Microscopic" ability to remove the drawbacks that damaged meridians in the technique, and incorporated Daoist breathing methods.

"Hoo—Haa—"

With his breathing, the skin on his body actually rippled like water waves.

Iron Skin perfected.

That year, news came from the north. Barbarian cavalry had broken through Black Stone County and massacred the city for three days. The defending general, Wang Meng, was missing.

When Ji Ye heard the news, he merely stopped his chopsticks, remained silent for three breaths, and then continued eating.

He ate an extra bowl of meat that meal.

Winter of the first year.

Central Province, at the foot of Mount Shaoshi.

Ji Ye, under the alias "Ye Wen," visited various martial arts schools under the guise of a traveling scholar.

He didn't seek to become a disciple, only to spar.

"My apologies."

Ji Ye retracted his finger. The owner of the Tongbi Boxing gym, known as "Iron Arms," clutched his dislocated shoulder, his face filled with horror.

One move.

No matter what sect or style the opponent used, under Ji Ye's [Martial Dao Heavenly Eye], it was all full of flaws.

He was like a sponge, frantically absorbing the strengths of a hundred schools.

The power-generating techniques of Tongbi Boxing, the footwork of Bagua Palm, the force-dispelling methods of Tai Chi...

These martial arts, originally incompatible, were forcibly dismantled and merged within his body, becoming nourishment to cultivate his martial path.

That year, the Barbarian army marched deep into the land, breaking through three northern provinces. The imperial court was shaken, and troops were mobilized from all over the realm to defend the capital.

Autumn of the second year.

Da Liang's imperial capital, Tiandu City.

Autumn in Tiandu always came early.

The beacon fires from the north had not yet reached here, but the wind already carried the scent of blood. However, the city's vibrant red sleeves and gilded pavilions completely masked that smell.

South of the city, Tingyu Lane.

An unremarkable small courtyard, a half-withered parasol tree, and a person.

Two years.

Seven hundred and thirty days and nights.

The sickly scholar who used to cough up blood in Black Stone County was gone. In his place stood a sword, sheathed.

Ji Ye stood beneath a tree, his figure tall and slender, dressed in a loose blue robe. He had grown a little taller, his shoulders broader. Those eyes, which always held a hint of sickly melancholy, were now as deep as ancient wells, undisturbed, yet unfathomably profound.

He held a sword in his hand.

An iron sword.

A common street-vendor item from the blacksmith's shop, costing fifty wen, its blade still bearing rough burrs where it hadn't been polished smooth.

But in his hand, this scrap iron was colder than any famous sword.

"Hum."

He drew his sword.

There were no stances, no techniques, not even the sound of wind.

There was only a flash of light.

A residual gleam so fast that even shadows couldn't keep up.

A withered yellow phoenix leaf was falling, and the sword's edge passed through it.

The leaf didn't shatter, nor did it fly. It continued to drift down to the ground.

One breath.

Two breaths.

Three breaths.

"Crack."

The fallen leaf lying on the ground suddenly split perfectly in the middle, the cut as smooth as a mirror, as if it had been made in two halves from the start.

"Organ Tempering realm..."

Ji Ye sheathed his sword, exhaling a long breath.

The breath condensed, refusing to dissipate, like a white snake flicking its tongue, lingering in the air for a long time.

He slowly raised his right hand, fingers spread, then clenched it into a fist.

"Boom—"

It wasn't the sound of air exploding, but a muffled thunder, as if from the depths of the earth.

It was the sound of his internal organs vibrating at high frequency in an instant—Tiger-Leopard Thunderous Sound.

An invisible force erupted outward from the center of his fist, and the fallen leaves at his feet instantly turned to dust, swept up by the autumn wind like a golden mist.

This was the Myriad Forms Furnace Body.

Over two years, he had traveled across Da Liang, visiting one hundred and eight martial arts schools, stealing techniques, sparring, and integrating them.

He hadn't practiced any single sect's divine art. He had forged himself into a furnace.

Melting the fires of myriad schools, casting my body into diamond.

His bone density was five times that of an ordinary person, his muscle fibers were like twisted steel wires, and his internal organs were so resilient they could withstand the impact of Internal Strength.

He was no longer the meat shield who needed the Dead Flesh Armor to take hits.

He was a precision killing machine. A monster with bones as hard as steel, organs like thunder, and skills that reached divinity.

Ji Ye raised his head, his gaze piercing through layers of eaves, settling on the depths of the magnificent imperial city.

There lay the final foundation of the Da Liang imperial family—the Supreme Induction Chapter.

It was the key to the Grandmaster realm.

And it was something he had to obtain in this lifetime.

"The age of chaos is approaching."

Ji Ye extended a finger, lightly flicking the iron sword in his hand.

The blade let out a soft hum, like a dragon's roar, like a ghost's wail.

"Qin Wuji, you should be here by now, shouldn't you?"

"This time, my sword is swift."